Thanks Giving

Greetings from the Stye!

Fall is an exciting time for stewards because it is time for the harvest. This is when the long hours of field work and the desperate prayers for timely rain come to fruition. After the harvest has been gathered we can look at the storage bins and thank God for all the blessings we have received.

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863. The document, written by Secretary of State William Seward, reads in part:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God…

It’s hard for us to imagine how people living through the horrors of the Civil War could have strength to give thanks. But they did, and it is testimony to their faith. That same faith based gratitude inspires us to give thanks to God in the good times and in the bad, and to remember that every day is Thanksgiving Day! Thanks be to God!

Your friend in the Stye!

Stewie